The earth is pretty well understood today. We know it's spherical and we know it rotates on it's axis as it revolves around the sun. When the Bible was written and compiled, things were different. People believed that we were in a geocentric universe (the earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around it), they thought the earth was flat, and other basic scientific phenomenon were unknown to these people.

The Flat Earth

The Bible doesn't always reflect that we live on a spinning, revolving, sphere... which I would think that God would have known and would have inspired the authors to tell, but he didn't. That is why the Bible reflects that we live on a flat earth.

The term "ends of the earth" is used quite a bit in the Bible. I have received hundreds of e-mails saying "the term 'ends of the earth' is a saying, it's not literal", but they forget that it is a figurative saying today. When the Bible was written it wasn't a figure of speech... it was a fact. Even as late as 1492, people were convinced that silly old Columbus was going to fall off of the earth. But as we know today, the earth is a sphere, and there are no ends on a sphere. Just pick up a ball and find its ends.

Even if one was to accept that God was foreseeing enough to put futuristic lingo which matched the beliefs of the day in. But Job 38:13 speaks of the earth being taken by the physical ends with "That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?"

Other mentions of the ends of the earth can be found in the following places. Deuteronomy 13:7, 28:49, 28:64, 33:17. Job 2:8, 19:4, 22:27, 33:13, 48:10, 59:13, 61:2, 65:5, 72:8.

The ends of the earth isn't the only signs of the flat earth in the Bible. In Job 11:9 it says that heaven and hell's measurements are "Their measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea". How long is a sphere? There is no length in a sphere. Now a flat two dimensional object would have a length.

Now we get to something that many people have said is proof of the Bible knowing the true shape of the earth. The following verses have been sent to me with notes like "See, the Bible says the earth isn't flat":

Proverbs 8:27- When he prepared the heavens, I was there, When he drew a circle on the face of the deep

Isaiah 40:22- It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And it's inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

But anyone with a basic grasp of geometry knows what a circle is. It's a flat, two dimensional object. According to these scriptures, the earth is shaped like a CD. Again, as much as many people want to believe this proves that the world is a sphere, they are only proving the Bible talks of a flat earth. There are many who say "it says circle, it got the shape right". But this was also a common mistake of the day. People thought the earth was shaped like a plate. They got this belief because if they pointed at the horizon and they spin while tracing the horizon, it appears that they live on a flat circle. And they could travel 1000 miles and do the same thing and they got the same result. It made sense.

The Sky and Atmospheric Conditions

The sky is also described inaccurately in the Bible. In the above scripture, Isaiah 40:22, it mentions that the heavens are stretched out like a tent. A tent would not be a good description of the earth's atmosphere nor the cosmos. It's describing a flat floor which where there is nothing below it... no heavens below the top of the earth. By this description you would either step off of the earth into outer space (but not fall off, because tents don't go underground, so the heavens can't go below the earth), or you will crash into the sky when you reach the end of the earth. Much like how you would crash into the side of your tent if you roll over too much in your sleep.

In Genesis 1:6-8 God created a firmament (which he named "Heaven") to divide the water on earth and the water in the sky. Do we really have a solid sky holding water over us? How the heck did we get to the moon? Does the space shuttle have a "firmament opener" on the front of it? This would explain why every time it rained in the Bible, that God had to "open the windows of heaven" (Gen. 7:1 and Isa. 24:18 are examples). These openings allowed all the water above the solid sky to leak out. Maybe we broke a window on our first space mission, and have flown out the broken window every time since.

Snow and hail are mentioned in the Bible. It is also mentioned that they are stored for future use by God. In Job 38:22 God asks "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail". I can't believe that we are so naive as to think snow and hail are formed by freezing water vapor. Someone should inform these radical meteorologists that it's all in God's storage areas, and that he throws him down when he sees fit.

The Stationary Earth

The idea of a stationary earth has been touched on by nearly every mythological tale. There was Atlas who held the earth on his back, and let's not forget the turtle and elephants in Terry Pratchett's Disk World series. It seems like this inaccurate belief found its way into the Bible also.

Job chapter 38 has a lot of mentions of a stationary earth, and as direct quotes from God. Quotes like the following:

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding." - Job 38:4

"Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;" - Job 38:6

Really, do these sound like descriptions of a world that spins on its axis, while at the same time revolves around the sun? First off, everything I have seen foundations on are stationary. Buildings, walls, towers, etc. Then God says that the foundation is fastened to something. Again, does your car have a foundation attached to something? Your house has a foundations which attaches it to the ground. Hmmmm, If you believe these verses, you must have a hard time finding your house whenever you go out, because it probably moved away while you were gone.

That's not all. 1 Samuel 2:8 states that "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, And He has set the world upon them". If you go to any seashore, you are bound to see houses built on pillars, and yet the houses don't move. How strange.

Psalms 93:1 flat out says that the world doesn't move. "The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty; The Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved."

Again, earths foundations (as well as the sky's windows) are mentioned in Isaiah 24:18- "And it shall be That he who flees from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit, And he who comes up from the midst of the pit, Shall be caught in the snare; For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth are shaken."

The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

The sun and the moon are mentioned in the Bible. Why wouldn't they be? After all they are these two huge things in the sky every day. Every society has mention of them in their writings, just as every religious text. Some people thought they were gods, others thought they influenced luck and so on. Even today some people won't go out when there's a full moon.

Today we know that they sun is a massive fireball which provides the earth with light and heat... not to mention is a requirement for life on Earth. The moon on the other hand is just another chunk of dirt and rock that floats in space, it just happens to revolve around our little planet. It does effect some things here on Earth, like the tide. The only reason we see it every night is because it reflects light from the sun.

The Bible doesn't always reflect the truth about the sun and moon.

In Genesis 1:16 says "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." According to this, the moon is a light source just like the sun, only not as bright. If this was the case, we couldn't land on the moon, it would be too hot. It is also strange that it took God the day to make the sun and the moon, but the stars are portrayed as an afterthought of sorts. "He made the stars also", this is a definite sign that the Bible is inspired by man. It is clear that man could not have perceived that the stars were the same as the sun, but in most cases much larger. Naturally they thought that these specks were just thrown about. The verse should read "God created the stars and planetary objects, he also made the earth, sun, and moon". But man, in those days, would have never seen it that way.

Isaiah 13:10 also says that the moon is a source of light. "moon shall not cause her light to shine." Again this is another example of the Bible seeming to be inspired by man and limited to his own perception.

Animals in the Bible

The Bible is also pretty good at inaccurately depicting animals. Pretty odd since it is the supposed word of the being who created them.

According to Leviticus 11:5-6 Rabbits (Coney) chew their cud and because of this they are unclean. Last time I checked, rabbits don't chew cud.

According to the Bible, our brother mammal, the bat, is a bird. This one has been debated through e-mail quite a bit, but if one looks in Leviticus 11:13 a list of Fowls is started, and the Bat is included in this list in Leviticus 11:19.

The locust, grasshopper, and beetle all have four feet according to Leviticus 11:22, then in the next verse, it mentions a group of flying animals with four feet. I can't think of any.

One minor correction: most educated people in Columbus' time did not still think that the Earth was flat. That being said, there are still people today for reasons known only to them (some essentially stick with "'cause the Bible said so") continue to believe that the world is flat; that the spherical Earth is somehow a conspiracy benefiting... (this is where they lose steam).

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"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution."

Quran is no better in this respect (even if it was written half to one millenium later)The quran mentions all kinds of people, places, animals, religions, fruits and landscapes. One would expect that the all knowing god would mention these from all over the planet. Not so, only the ones known to, say, a warlord from the middle east are mentioned. Religions, fe, the quran mentions exactly four religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism and (Arab) paganism. What about all the other religions? What about Atheists? Sure, just like with any religious text, you can make excuses for it until the heat death of the universe. But if you limit yourself to what's actually in the damn thing, sorry, abundantly clear that it was written(/dictated) by a not terribly well educated middle eastern human ... no gods involved.

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Science: I'll believe it when I see itFaith: I'll see it when I believe it

^ one would certainly think that a book of divine origin would have something in it that demonstrates both future knowledge, and SPECIFIC language about that knowledge; less prophetic bullshit (left to interpretation), more facts.

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"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution."

Quran is no better in this respect (even if it was written half to one millenium later)The quran mentions all kinds of people, places, animals, religions, fruits and landscapes. One would expect that the all knowing god would mention these from all over the planet. Not so, only the ones known to, say, a warlord from the middle east are mentioned.

Specifically It mentions that feshwater and salt water do not mix. They do; it is called a brackish estuary. However there are none of these in the Middle East.

Not only does it omit knowledge, it has false proscriptive declarations that conform to the topography of the area.

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An Omnipowerful God needed to sacrifice himself to himself (but only for a long weekend) in order to avert his own wrath against his own creations who he made in a manner knowing that they weren't going to live up to his standards.

^^ Heaven, in the quran, is described in a variety of way, but one thing that's almost always in there is that there's a river running under it.Which, I imagine is indeed heavenly if one lives in a desert all their lives ... but suppose you're native living in a jungle somewhere.Preacher comes along and promises you an afterlife in a place with a river under it. Wouldn't you go, "A river? Another one?! Could I PLEASE have some dry land for once?!!!"

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Science: I'll believe it when I see itFaith: I'll see it when I believe it